I like to know the pronunciation (or at least likely pronunciation) of the
names of biblical characters.
For instance, for the pronunciation of John it seems it was originally
something like Yehokjanan, but by the first century it's been shortened to
Yokjanan.
In the case of Simon, did it retain in the first century the gutural stop
(ayin), something like Sim-on?
And what was the Hebrew name for Galilee? I've found Galil (Jos 20:7; 1 King
9:11), Gelil (Isa 9:1) and Galilah (2 Kings 15:29). Why this difference?
Which would be the pronunciation in the first century?